Amir Khan has opened the door to a stunning return to the Olympics after amateur boxing’s governing body made the controversial call to allow professionals to fight in Rio this summer.

The twist is that Bolton-born Khan, a silver medallist for Britain in Athens in 2004, followed the announcement from the International Boxing Association (AIBA) by revealing he wants to fight for Pakistan, the country of his parents’ birth.

Pakistan boxing officials are now investigating to see if Khan is eligible after the former light-welterweight world champion said: ‘It’s a decision which I welcome. It will help boxers. If I am permitted as per the rules and from my promoter then I would love to compete for Pakistan. I will be very happy if I can compete in the Olympics.’

Amir Khan has said he would want to fight in the Olympics in Rio this summer but for Pakistan

A young Khan poses with his silver medal which he won at the Olympics in Athens back in 2004

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AMIR KHAN 2004 OLYMPIC ROUTE

The decision to allow professionals in has drawn huge condemnation from the boxing community and AIBA has even been accused of endangering fighters with this ground breaking call.

But Khan has long indicated he would want a chance to upgrade his silver medal from 12 years ago. And theoretically, he could fill a gap for Britain as they have not yet qualified a fighter for the light-welterweight and welterweight categories in Rio.

But team sources told Sportsmail they will only consider a professional contender if they struggle at this month’s qualification event in Baku, Azerbaijan, where Josh Kelly and Cyrus Pattinson are battling for the one welterweight position from June 14 and Pat McCormack is hoping to qualify as a light-welterweight.

Khan returned to Pakistan and received an award upon his return stating he wants to fight for the country

The Bolton boxer poses with guards who were instructed to protect him at every turn

Those three fighters are chasing two spots in what would be a 10-man team and only if they fall short in Azerbaijan will professionals will be considered.

But the timeframe for an elite-level fighter such as Khan to gatecrash this summer’s party is extremely tight. As there are no wildcards, a professional’s only shot is at the final qualifying event in Vargas, Venezuela from July 3-8, when 26 places will be available for Rio.

The fact there is even a chance a professional can contest the boxing at the Games has drawn enormous condemnation from within the sport. IBF world welterweight champion Kell Brook told Sportsmail: ‘I think it’s awful. It makes no sense.

‘There are levels in the game and it has always been that you go from amateurs to pros. I don’t see why they are doing this or how it works.’

The former two-time champion was knocked out after stepping up to face middleweight Saul Alvarez in May

AMIR KHAN CAREER STATS

Total fights: 35

Wins: 31

Wins by KO: 19

Losses: 4

Carl Frampton added: ‘Pros being allowed to fight in Olympics is ridiculous. They’re two different sports. It’s like a badminton player playing tennis. AIBA have got worse since I was an amateur and that’s hard to believe.’

Former cruiserweight world champion and Sky Sports pundit Johnny Nelson slammed the decision as ’dangerous’.

He said: ‘Somebody is going to get hurt. This is not like another professional game, like basketball, that is in the Olympics. In boxing, if you get hit, you get hurt — you do not play at boxing. To me, I think it is dangerous, a bad, bad idea.

‘I understand the point that it’s only a three-round fight, and the pace is the only difference, but can you imagine Anthony Joshua today fighting the Anthony Joshua that won the gold medal (at London 2012)? It’s absolutely crazy.’

Despite fears of the dangers of mis-matches, there is a reasonable suggestion within the sport that top-level amateurs would be more than competitive in the specialised quickfire format of three, three-minute rounds.

Super-bantamweight Carl Frampton said the decision for professionals to fight at the Olympics is ridiculous

New cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew is another fighter against the move for pros to face amateurs

Former world champion Carl Froch said: ‘Overall, it’s a bad move. But a lot of top world champions would get beaten by top amateurs. It’s a simple as that: it’s not long enough. How many times have I had a professional world championship defence, and I'm three or four rounds down before I've got started?

‘A lot of top pros may not do well at the Olympics. I spar with Anthony Fowler, who’s just qualified for the Olympics, and for two or three rounds I literally don’t get near him. I’ll walk onto his right hand, and he can punch a bit.

‘Somebody like Fowler would probably beat me. I wouldn't want to take the risk, to be honest. I’ve trained and sparred with many top amateurs. Honestly, they hold their own — all of them.’

While Fowler, as a Commonwealth Games champion, can expected to hold his own, the argument would need to be extended to less capable fighters potentially being drawn against a major force from the professional code.

New cruiserweight world champion Tony Bellew said: ‘Imagine Gennady Golovkin, the triple-middleweight champion, fighting an unknown amateur. That would be dangerous and I disagree with it very, very highly.’